The Dragon Inside
by Aspen-SiredBySpike
Summary: Over the years Pansy has always been tricking Draco into saving her from situations in which she doesn't really need saving from. What if the one time She really is in danger, it takes him more time than he can spare to see that she isn't just playing?


**THE DRAGON INSIDE**

"Draco! Help me!" Pansy screamed down at the young boy standing below her.

"Forget it Parkinson…I knew you should have never climbed that tree, you're too much of a girl to get down by yourself!" Draco yelled back up to the young witch who was hanging onto a branch for dear life.

Earlier that day, the Parkinsons had decided to visit the Malfoys because they had some urgent business to take care of. Pansy was drug along after a good hour of whining to her parents that she wanted to stay home and invite Millicent over to play dolls, but once she found out that Draco was going to be home, she quickly cheered up. Unfortunately, the feeling of happiness didn't last for long. As soon as they arrived, Narcissa ushered her up to Draco's chambers while Lucius led her parents into the den. As soon as she stepped through the door, Narcissa took leave of her. Pansy gave a quick sweep of the room with her eyes only to find that Draco wasn't there. She figured that he must be in the bathroom so she took a seat on his silk adorned four poster bed. Surely Draco wouldn't mind…

Minutes ticked by and there was still no sign of Draco. Eventually, Pansy lay back onto the green comforter. She clenched it in her hands as a deep slumber encased her.

_She was running through a dark forest. The sky above her was turning swiftly from a dull grey to a pitch black. Thunder could be heard in the distance and lightning flashed across the sky but there was no sign of rain coming down and making the forest a slippery pool of darkness. The trees that kept her imprisoned pulled up their roots and moved silently into a torturous maze. Without second thought she continued her trek through the evil that was darkness. She called for help, but no one heard her…how could they? Alone in the maze, it would be almost impossible for someone outside it's walls to hear her; and even if they did, it would take an eternity for them to find her in the mess of trees and brush. Her breathing getting heavy, she slowed down for a minute. She took a glance up; it appeared as though the tree tops went on forever. A clap of thunder made her jump and continue running. The ground was getting wetter by the minute. Slipperier and slipperier it got until…_

_CRASH!_

_She lay in a heap on the forest floor; her dress and porcelain skin stained with mud. Her hair was now drenched in the dark chocolaty substance. Cuts covered her petite frame but any blood that trickled across her fair skin washed away. Not about to give up, she let her gaze fall in front of her, the sight she saw, brang tears to her eyes. A dead end. All of that running, for nothing. For minutes on end she just sat in vain, in defeat…not knowing if she had the strength to go on. Her thoughts were broken however, by the sound of sloshing mud behind her. She jumped up and spun around. She emitted a long, deep sigh. A small, white rabbit was hopping through the mud. A small smile spread across her face as she reached out to touch it; but just as her hand came within inches of the rabbit's soft white fur, a loud wrenching scream filled the air as the rabbit began to shake uncontrollably. She withdrew her hand immediately and her eyes grew wide as she watched in horror as the cute ball of fur morphed into a huge, scaly, terrifying, green dragon._

"_No…" She murmured under her breath in disbelief. "It can't be…" The dragon let out a breath of fire…it came only inches from hitting her. She screamed out for help, but the beast only let out another murder of flames._

"_Parkinson…" It called out to her. She shivered at the sound of her name. She began backing up…slowly the dragon began to walk towards her. "Parkinson…" It called out again. Each time the word was released from its scaly mouth, it drew louder._

_SMACK!_

_She turned around and gasped. Her back had hit the barricade of trees. She had finally reached her dead end. She was trapped. Cautiously turning back around, her eyes met with the steely grey ones of the beast. This was it…she was done for. She closed her eyes to escape her fate but was startled by a cold tingly feeling against her face and the beginnings of goose bumps on her spine. Slowly, she opened her eyes to find the dragon nuzzling her face. It was unsuspected but in a way, very comforting. She reached out to stroke the bridge of its nose when…_

"_PARKINSON!"_

Opening her eyes, Pansy found Draco with a hand on either side of her face shaking her awake, his eyes wide in horror.

"Wh- where am I?" Pansy asked as she fluttered her eyes a few times.

"You're in my room Parkinson." Draco responded as he gestured around him. "Now if you don't mind would you please remove your hand from my chest? I know I'm irresistible but honestly, my parents are just downstairs." Pansy followed her arm with her eyes only to find that her hand was pressed gently against Draco's chest. Swiftly, she pulled it away and sat up. Why was she stroking Draco? How had she known he was even there? Maybe…

"So what were you dreaming about Parkinson? You were yelling in your sleep. It's a wonder none of the adults came to find out what all of the commotion was about." Draco said nonchalantly as he took a seat next to the small, ebony haired girl.

"Nothing." Pansy spat out quickly coming to the realization of what her dream meant. _Draco was the dragon…_ "I was having a nightmare." She decided not to tell Draco the details of the forest maze and the rabbit turning into the dragon. Draco wasn't thick and if she mentioned the dragon, he would probably be able to put two and two together. Did she have feelings for Draco?

"Okay…" Draco said as he rolled his eyes at her lack of details. "It must have been pretty bad though. I was trying to wake you up for awhile now. Didn't you hear me calling your name?" _Of course I heard you calling my name; I just didn't know it was you at the time._ Pansy thought.

"No." She lied.

"Whatever Parkinson." He replied as he stood up. "Let's go outside and climb a tree or something."

"But I'm in a dress!" Pansy complained as she followed Draco out of the room.

"Then you can watch me climb a tree." Draco said.

"Forget it Parkinson…I knew you should have never climbed that tree, you're too much of a girl to get down by yourself!" Draco yelled back up to the young witch who was hanging onto a branch for dear life.

"In case you haven't noticed Draco, I am a girl!" Pansy called down. Draco just laughed in response. "Please Draco! If you don't help me down I'll tell my Lucius you weren't being a gentleman!" Pansy knew the thought of his father's punishments terrified Draco so this was the perfect thing to get him back up the tree. Without hesitation, as Pansy suspected, Draco began his descent up the tree once more. But just as he reached the branch below where Pansy sat, he froze in shock. Pansy had jumped out of the tree and landed safely on the grass. She stood up and brushed herself of before sending an innocent smile towards Draco.

"Parkinson…how did you…I thought you couldn't…why did you…" Draco stammered as he glared down at the girl below him.

"What's the matter Draco? Are you too much of a girl to get down yourself?" Pansy gave a short laugh before turning her back on the blonde and trudging back towards his manor.

Draco was taking a walk around the lake, trying to rid his mind of the incident that had happened earlier that day. _How dare Potter show me up again? Well, not so much Saint Potter but that filthy little mudblood. That girl should really learn to watch her mouth. Honestly, pointing a wand to my neck! Why is it that the golden trio always stands in my way of fun? And can you believe it? She punched me! I though spending an hour in the hospital wing was bad enough but having to walk around with a bruised face for the next week? It's unthinkable!_

"Draco! Draco, come help!" Draco's thoughts were broken by the sound of Tracey Davis' voice getting closer to him. He spun his head to see her, Daphne Greengrass and Millicent Bulstrode running towards him. _Oh great…what do they want?_

"Draco…Please help her!" The girls came to a quick stop in front of Draco, breathing hard.

"What do you want Davis?" Draco said lazily as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"Look, there's no time to explain…you have to help her now!" Daphne exclaimed as she grabbed hold of Draco's right arm and instructed Millicent to grab the other. They had begun to drag him closer to the lake.

"Hey! Let go of me! What do you want? And who is her?" Draco yelled as he flailed his arms and wriggled around, trying to get out of their grip.

"Pansy!" Tracey hollered. "She's needs your help.

"What? Where is she?" Draco yelled as he finally broke free from the girls' grasp.

"In the lake!" Millicent answered.

"The lake?" Draco asked as he got his bored tone back again.

"Yes!"

"Why is she in the lake?" Draco asked as he made no attempt to follow the girls anymore.

"Look, we'll explain on the way, no come on!" Daphne said as she took Draco by the arm once more.

"Hold on one bloody minute! How do I know this isn't a trick?" Draco asked suspiciously.

"Look!" Millicent screamed as she pointed towards the middle of the lake. Draco followed her pointed finger until his eyes rested on a screaming Pansy, flailing around, trying to stay afloat.

"She can't swim Draco!" Tracey cried.

"Oh Merlin." Draco said under his breath before making a break for it. He ran to the edge of the lake and dove in. Swimming as fast as he could, he made his way out to the slowly sinking figure of Pansy. The quicker he swam, the farther away she got, or so it seemed. By the time Draco got to her, she was slowly sinking under and met his eye level. Her eyes were closed and mouth slightly ajar, letting water enter her lungs. Draco reached out and wrapped his right arm around her waist and used his left to swim to the top. He felt their bodies break the surface faster than he thought they would. He wasted no time in swimming to the opposite side o the lake. Her lifted her out of the water and laid her on the soft grass before he pulled himself out. He skirted over to her and checked her pulse. There was none. He laid his head against her sopping blouse o check for a heart beat. He couldn't hear one.

"Damn it!" Draco cried as he dug through his pockets for his wand. Searching desperately, he found no trace of it. "Shit!" Draco exclaimed as he turned his head back towards the lake.

"Accio wand!" His wand came flying out of the water and into his outstretched hand. He pointed it at Pansy's heart and muttered numerous different spells under his breath. "Please work…please work…" Draco muttered after each new spell. After a few minutes he collapsed onto Pansy's chest and began to weep. _Why her? Merlin…why her? She has to be alive!_ As soon as the thought was released into his mind, a slash of water hit the side of his head. He lifted himself off of Pansy to find her trying to sit up, choking up water. _Thank you Merlin!_ Without thinking, Draco Pulled the choking Pansy close to him in a strangling hug.

"Oh Merlin Pansy! You're alright! You're alive!" Draco cried as he spoke into her hair.

"Of course I am Draco! Now could you please loosen your grip…you're hurting me!" Pansy replied in a hoarse voice.

"Oh right…" Draco smirked as he pulled her away so he could look in her eyes.

"Thank you." Pansy said after a few minutes of smiling.

"Your most welcome m'lady." Draco joked. Pansy smiled. "But what happened to you out there?"

"Well," Pansy began as she began playing with the locket around her neck that Draco gave her for her birthday that past month, "Tracey, Daphne, Millie and I were taking a walk around the lake, talking about some thing…"

"What sort of things?" Draco interrupted, not letting go of her. _Pansy is really beautiful…even when she is soaking wet…_ Draco thought to himself.

"Boys and stuff." Pansy replied nonchalantly.

"Which boys?" Draco asked curiously.

"Theodore Nott, Marcus Flint, Blaise Zabini, you came up a few times too."

"Is that so?" Draco smirked as he cocked an eyebrow. "And just who spoke of me?"

"I'm not telling!" Pansy said as she playfully hit his arm. "Anyways, we were just talking until Daphne noticed something floating in the water. She wanted to find out what it was but it was to far away. There was a tree just a few meters from us so I volunteered to climb out on a branch and see what it was. However, I didn't count on falling in."

"Why didn't you just swim back to shore?" Draco asked interestedly.

"I can't swim." Pansy stated simply.

"What? Yes you can." Draco retaliated.

"No I can't."

"But all those time you went in the lake with me behind my manor in the summer…"

"I never went in past my waist." Draco thought back and realized hat she was telling the truth.

"Look Pans, I'm sorry I never came sooner. I thought it was just a trick like the time you climbed the tree, or the time you said you were lost in the woods, or the time-"

"Alright, alright, I get it!" Pansy exclaimed as she threw her hands up in the air.

"You are quite the prankster Pansy." Draco laughed.

"Oh well. If you look back, you did try to save me all of those times. Face it Draco, you'll always be my knight in shining armor." Pansy smiled as she pushed a wet strand of hair out of Draco's face.

"Of course I would try o save my best friend countless times. What if the one time I didn't bother with you, you really were in danger or needed my help? And I may be your knight in shining armor, but I can't slay the dragon inside." Draco laughed before leaning in and kissing Pansy gently. When he pulled back, Pansy just stared at him.

"Draco…why did you-" Pansy stuttered but Draco put a finger to her lips to silence her.

"Remember just a moment ago when I said that you were my best friend? Well, I was kind of hoping that you would like to be more." Draco said as he moved his finger away from her mouth so she could speak.

"Draco...I don't know what to say." Pansy whispered.

"Look, it's ok if you don't want to…I'll completely understand." Draco said with a sigh before Pansy caught his lips in another kiss.

"I think you misunderstood me Draco. I was wondering what took you so long to ask me." Pansy smiled. Draco hugged her tightly once more before the ecstatic screams of Tracey, Daphne and Millicent could be heard. Pansy reluctantly pulled away from Draco to face her friends.

"Oh Pansy, you're alright!" Millicent cried.

"Looks like Draco got to you in time…" Tracey smiled.

"We were so worried about you!" Daphne said.

"Look girls, I'm fine! Draco saved me and I'm very thankful for it." Pansy said as she smiled at Draco.

"Oh Merlin! Look at the time, dinner is almost started!" Millicent said as she looked at her watch. The girls turned to leave but Daphne stayed behind.

"Are you coming Pans?" She asked. "You'll want to get out of those wet clothes before dinner." Pansy stood up with the help of Draco.

"Yeah. Just one minute." Pansy said as she turned away from Daphne and back to Draco. "Listen, thank you again. I might have died if it wasn't for you."

"Don't mention it." Draco said as if it were nothing. "Look, what are you doing after dinner?"

"Nothing…what did you have in mind?" Pansy smiled.

"Well, Zabini is going down to Hogsmeade with Davis, so I thought that you and I could lock out Crabbe and Goyle and do a little studying." Draco suggested as he cocked his eyebrows.

"Studying?" Pansy asked. "Well, I'll see what I can do. See you in your dorm around eight?"

"Fine with me…" Draco said as the two began to laugh. Daphne stared back and forth between the two.

"You two hurt my head." She exclaimed as she turned and headed back towards the castle.

A/N: Wotcher everyone! Hey, sorry it took me such a long time to post. This one-shot was finished for awhile now but the site wouldn't let me post! I hate it when it does that. Anyways, for all of you who read Seducment of a Slytherin, no, I did not abandon it. I have the next chapter written and the chapter after that half written but I made a deal with my best friend eleen. I am keeping the chapter and another one of my one-shots hostage until she agrees to post her Draco/Harry video on if you wish to send flames to her (or angry reviews) through means of me. Also, my posts will take longer than I anticipated them because as most of you know, under the account aspenandeleen150, I am collaborating with eleen on a fic called Not At Hogwarts (which is a comedy/parody if any of you should like to read it) not to mention I have a Draco/Pansy chaptered fic in the making called THE FEELING IS MUTUAL, not to mention a Draco/Hermione (Yes, i have anticipated that you all are going to call me a traitor) fic in the making called CREEPING BEAUTY. Don't get me wrong, D/P is my number one ship but D/Hr comes in second. If you don't believe me that they can be decent and even funny, I suggest you read a wonderful fic called CURSE OF THE MISTLETOE by Hedw1g. Anyways, I hope you enjoy this one-shot and I hope you stick around for my other fics. Thanks for reading! Until next time...Aspen


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